With several scouts from contending clubs in the stands, trade candidate Jeremy Hellickson delivered his best start of the season Wednesday night in leading the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Miami Marlins.
Tyler Goeddel got his first start since the All-Star break and led the offense with three RBIs.
Starting pitching report
Hellickson pitched eight walk-free innings and gave up five hits and a run. He struck out eight. He is 7-7 with a 3.84 ERA in 20 starts.
Hellickson has pitched at least six innings in eight straight starts, a career best.
The Baltimore Orioles had a scout at the game. Sources say they have discussed Hellickson. Miami is also in the market for a starter.
Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen gave up 11 hits and four runs over 5 1/3 innings.
Bullpen report
Jeanmar Gomez, another trade candidate, pitched a scoreless ninth for his 26th save.
At the plate
The Phillies had 12 hits, two more than they had in their previous three games, all losses.
In an effort to get some offense out of a lineup that scored just 10 runs in the first five games back from the break, manager Pete Mackanin gave Goeddel the start in left field. The rookie responded with a two-run homer in the first inning and an RBI single in the second.
Chris Johnson smacked a solo homer for Miami.
Lineup stuff
Mackanin gave slumping Odubel Herrera the night off. Herrera was just 4 for 36 in his previous nine games, dating to the start of the last series before the All-Star break. His batting average dropped from .305 to .285 in that span. Herrera entered the game as a pinch-hitter and flied out in the eighth.
Peter Bourjos started in center field and Goeddel and Jimmy Paredes got rare starts at the corner spots as Mackanin tried to spark the slumping offense.
Up next
The series and the homestand concludes Thursday night. Jerad Eickhoff (6-10, 3.76) will pitch for the Phillies against Miami right-hander Tom Koehler (6-8, 4.68).